Fresh from his success on "The Mack Is Back", DJ Hi Def returns with the 7th Volume of DJ Premier worship with The Premier Issue Vol. 7: HOVA Edition. Having seemingly run through all of the prolific producer's entire catalog (or at least what was available) the up and coming Hi Def has turned his attention to pairing Primo instrumentals with acapella Jay-Z tracks from American Gangster. Although any self respecting Hip Hop fan will be able to tell that these are in fact blends it cannot be denied that Hi Def has given a fresh sound to these tracks. Not to mention that a Premier/Jay-Z album is dream that we will probably never see fulfilled
, so to at least get a glimpse of what that would be like is a treat.
, so to at least get a glimpse of what that would be like is a treat.Hi Def treats Premier's production with the reverence it deserves, presenting the listener with a grab bag of new and old Premo beats including gems that will be recognized from Jeru The Damaja, Gang Starr, Lord Finesse, and Cormega (just to name a few). However, it is with Jay-Z's verses that Hi Def truly shows his skills. Not merely cutting and pasting verses onto instrumentals, Hi Def expertly cuts and edits Jay's verses to give even the most trained ear the notion of new material. This is most evident on "Can't Cheat Death" (itself a blend of Jay-Z's "Pray" and unreleased Premier instrumental called "Sing Like Bilal") where Hi Def etches out a new chorus with an altered Jay-Z sample. Other gems include "Welcome To The 70's" "Lock Us All Up" and "Hello Brooklyn: Flatbush Version".
The shortcomings of this mix come from the more disjointed tracks such as "You Need HD" and "This Is Hip Hop" where the collaboration sounds forced as well as Hi Def's odd choice to split "Hello Brooklyn" into two tracks as opposed to having one track with two different beats (a Premier staple). That notwithstanding, The Premier Issue Vol. 7: HOVA Edition is one I highly recommend for anybody to download. It is sure to get multiple plays.
FINAL VERDICT: 8.8 out of 10
PASS THAT PIFF
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